


Fanning the Fire

by Ellie603



Series: Hot and Cold [2]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Engagement, Family Bonding, Fluff, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22916287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie603/pseuds/Ellie603
Summary: A year and a half after David returns to Schitt's Creek for good, he and Patrick have some news to share with the rest of the Rose family.A follow up toWarmer
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: Hot and Cold [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647094
Comments: 16
Kudos: 152





	Fanning the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I had a couple little scenes that I needed to get out before I let this AU go for good, so I hope you guys like it!
> 
> Enjoy!

David felt Patrick arrive at the store before he heard the bell ring above the door.

He let out a contented sigh, allowing the warmth of his soulmate to wash over him, the feeling only intensifying as Patrick himself came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his stomach, pressing a kiss to David’s shoulder blade.

“Morning,” David said almost lazily, leaning back into the embrace, the fire inside him blazing, warming him from head to toe. “How did the vendor run go?”

“Missed you,” Patrick replied simply, hugging him tighter.

David turned in Patrick’s arms to lace his arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.

“Someone has to watch the store,” David reminded him with a smirk as they broke apart. Typically, it was Patrick who had to remind David of that fact when David pulled him into the stockroom for reasons entirely unrelated to work or when David tried to get him to take a long lunch and come back with him to his apartment.

Patrick flashed him that delighted smile that he wore whenever David ever managed to get in a shot at him and kissed him softly in response.

The arrival of a customer forced them to separate, Patrick squeezing David’s hand as he went to help the new arrival.

David was left grinning in front of the shelf he’d been restocking.

He adjusted his shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles from Patrick’s embrace. His shirt today was long-sleeved, but thin, a new favorite of his since it let him feel closer to Patrick. David still wore clothes primarily from his massive knitwear collection, but sweaters were no longer a necessity.

He was warm enough without them.

Patrick could be anywhere, and David still could feel him. It was everything he hadn’t realized he’d been missing in all his years alone. Living in Schitt’s Creek again was good for a lot of reasons, but feeling Patrick’s warmth as a constant in his chest was easily the best part of it.

The second best thing, of course, was the store. Rose Apothecary.

Patrick had deemed the name “just pretentious enough,” prompting a show of being offended from David, but he knew Patrick liked the name and Patrick knew David liked being teased by him, so they called it perfect.

With Patrick’s help, the store had become a space exactly as David had envisioned more than a year ago when he had first met Patrick. Local goods all under one brand and nothing even remotely hazardous stored near the food. David loved running his business, and even more he loved running it with Patrick. His soulmate didn’t have the best design instincts (though David had to admit he was getting better all the time), and he made them host incredibly incorrect open mic nights, but David loved working with him nonetheless.

And he’d begrudgingly admitted that the Open Mic nights weren’t _such_ a bad idea, but only after Patrick had serenaded him at the first one, making his entire body feel like the flames that had adorned his sweater for that evening. That had been the moment that David had realized all at once that he was entirely in love with his soulmate, even though it had been a bit longer before either of them said it out loud. The end result was that regular Open Mic nights stayed a part of the Rose Apothecary event roster with only minimal complaining from David.

That, too, was something perfect.

The customer finally left, and Patrick looked up at David over the register. “Are you ready for tonight?” he asked, a nervousness in his voice that David didn’t hear very often.

David smiled affectionately at his soulmate as he joined him behind the counter. He took Patrick’s right hand in his left one, gold rings glinting up at both of them.

“Of _course_ ,” David replied reassuringly. “It might be a little awkward. But I’m really excited to share this with everyone.” He squeezed Patrick’s hand so make sure the other man could feel the rings he’d placed there a week ago.

“I’m excited too,” Patrick agreed, his eyes distracted by David’s rings before he looked back up into his fiancé’s face. “It’s just that it’s been only _ours_ for a while, and I’m gonna miss that.”

David raised his eyebrows at Patrick momentarily.

“Well, ours and Stevie’s,” Patrick amended with a grin.

Hiding the fact that he and Patrick were engaged from the entire town had been a lot easier than David had expected. No one seemed to notice that David’s rings were on a different hand and had suddenly become gold rather than silver, though Twyla and Jocelyn had both commented that David had seemed particularly happy when they’d come into the store the Monday after Patrick had proposed. Ronnie had made a similar comment to Patrick, though it had been part of an insult during a baseball game when she said that maybe if Patrick hadn’t been so starry-eyed he actually could have hit the ball.

Alexis would have noticed, but she’d had a busy week with some new client she was doing publicity for, and David and Patrick had only seen her for a quick lunch halfway through the week. Even then, David’s sister had been on her phone half the time, though she had been apologetic about it and promised to make it up to them. David hadn’t minded; it put less pressure on him to keep the secret.

Stevie, however, had instantly known something was up, and David had been powerless not to tell her everything. She’d had David and Patrick over to celebrate, and they’d had a truly fun night drinking while Stevie told Patrick embarrassing stories about David, forgetting that she’d already told Patrick most of them before David had even come back to town.

They’d also told Patrick’s parents over Facetime, knowing they couldn’t keep it a secret from them for an entire month before David and Patrick’s next planned visit to Patrick’s hometown. Marcy and Clint were thrilled, and David was pretty sure he’d never seen Patrick smile that much.

David’s parents, on the other hand, were due in town that day. With the motel business taking off, David’s father split his time between Schitt’s Creek and the city, with David’s mother tagging along more often than not, even if she complained about spending hours in the car. David could at least offer his apartment if the motel got to be too much for her, so she put up with it much better than she had in the past.

David had casually suggested to Alexis during a moment at lunch when she wasn’t entirely distracted that they have a family dinner at the Café that night, both of their parents, David and Patrick, Alexis and Ted. Alexis had been immediately on board and quickly made sure that their parents would be there in time. It seemed like the just the right place to tell them the big news.

He and his soulmate, he and _Patrick_ , were engaged. He’d liked having time for it to just be their thing, a little secret that made David too happy when he did inventory or distracted Patrick while he played baseball. But now David was ready for everyone to know. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops that he and Patrick were getting married and were going to spend their lives together, though he would settle for a heartfelt speech in front of his family that would, presumably, bring everyone to tears.

Hours later, and after several more serious wrinkles had been smoothed out of David's shirt due to Patrick thoroughly distracting David while they got ready, the pair stood outside the Café, taking in one last moment, just the two of them.

Patrick brought David’s left hand to his lips and kissed his rings before pulling David toward him and kissing him properly.

“I love you,” Patrick whispered across David’s lips almost reverently.

“I love you,” David replied immediately, a smile appearing on his face at the words. He kissed Patrick lightly one more time before opening the doors to the Café, their hands still tightly clasped together.

“Oh, my boys!”

David’s mother approached he and Patrick immediately, her arms outstretched, though the hugs each of them received were more hands on their shoulders and leaning in for cheek kisses than actual hugs.

“It is so lovely to see you, Patrick,” she said as she kissed his cheek, David’s fiancé’s full first name sounding almost natural as she said it. David smiled gratefully.

David had spent much of the last year and a half trying to stop his mother from shortening Patrick’s name to “Pat,” and each time he succeeded felt like a little victory. Worse, of course, had been the week where she kept accidentally calling him Peter, but David had stopped that one not long after his first phone call to tell his parents that he had – surprise – left New York and moved back to Schitt’s Creek to be with his soulmate. His mother had already been on edge that day from the news about the hotels, and David’s addition to the conversation had temporarily incapacitated her, though once David’s parents actually came back to Schitt’s Creek and met Patrick, his mother loved him instantly and had told David several different times how much she could tell Patrick cared for him and how well they worked together.

“I’m so glad Alexis was able to throw this little shin-dig together,” his mother said lightly before moving back to the rest of the group.

David glanced over at Patrick smiling softly. “Yeah, me too.”

“Stevie, why does your face look like that?”

Alexis’s voice grabbed David’s attention across the Café.

Stevie had very clearly been caught grinning at David and Patrick at the door, and her deer-in-the-headlight’s expression at Alexis’s question was already enough to make David worry.

“I’m just glad David and Patrick are here so we can order dinner,” Stevie lied shakily, not sounding even a little bit convincing.

“What are you even doing here, Stevie?” David interrupted as he walked over, Patrick following along beside him.

“Your dad invited me,” Stevie replied stubborn as usual, but David could see a definite nervousness in her eyes.

Patrick removed his hand from David’s suddenly and instead guided Stevie to a clear area at the back of the Café, glancing back at David reassuringly.

David narrowed his eyes, but he refocused on the group in front of them. His father had waved when they walked in, but he was deep in conversation with Twyla, while his mom had since monopolized Ted, forcing Alexis to drift back over and rescue her soulmate.

“Just keep it together, this is a big deal for him.” David could hear Patrick’s half-whispered orders to Stevie. “You are not allowed to be the one who blows this.”

“I’m sorry,” Stevie sounded genuinely upset with herself. “I haven’t had to be around his family at all this week, and I’m just really happy for you guys.”

David had to duck his head to hide his growing smile.

The warmth inside him escalated to a higher degree as Patrick returned and took his hand.

“It’s taken care of,” he said seriously as though he had just stopped a national emergency instead of threatening Stevie not to reveal that they were engaged.

David just shook his head, smiling openly now, before he pressed a quick kiss to Patrick’s lips. “My hero,” he said sarcastically.

Patrick grinned in response, finally leading them over to the middle of the Café where Twyla had pushed two tables together to accommodate all seven of them.

The group ordered drinks and food, and David’s father asked about the store and talked about the hotel chain, while David’s mother retold stories of the tv sets she’d been working on that David and Alexis had both heard at least three times and Stevie at least once. Alexis talked all about the work she’d been doing that week, as Ted smiled up at her, still entirely smitten with his soulmate. David said little, not trusting himself to not blurt everything out, and Stevie said even less. Patrick, however, kept their end of the conversation, and no one seemed at all suspicious.

After they’d eaten, David took a deep breath, but his dad spoke before he could.

“Can I just say how nice it is to have the entire family together?” David’s father looked around the table, a wide smile on his face. “And that includes you, Stevie, Ted, and Patrick. You’re all part of our family.”

“That means a lot, Mr. Rose, thank you,” Ted replied, a heartfelt smile on his face, his fingers laced with Alexis’s on top of the table.

Patrick didn’t say anything to David’s father; he just looked over at David with a smile that David knew well. It was the smile that David had seen in the motel room when Patrick had first told him that he wanted them to be together. It was the smile when David appeared behind him at an evening riverfront craft market in a little town that David and Patrick had stopped in again on their way to pick up David’s stuff from New York because David wanted another cupcake. It was the smile after David said yes to Patrick’s proposal after a hike that David had tentatively agreed to back when he’d only known Patrick for a day. It had taken Patrick more than a year to get David to go hiking with him, but Patrick’s smile in that moment told David that it had been worth it.

David smiled back at Patrick, knowing how obvious it had to be for everyone that he loved this man with his entire heart.

“I’d like to say something too,” David spoke finally.

The table turned to him. Stevie looked relieved that David was finally going to tell everyone so she didn’t have to keep the secret anymore. Ted and David’s father were both smiling fondly at the rest of the table. Alexis clearly seemed to realize that something was up even if she wasn’t sure what it was, and David’s mother raised her eyebrows as though she actually _did_ know what David was about to say. She probably did.

All of the most important people in David’s life were here in one room. He felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Finally, his eyes fell onto the man beside him. Patrick was still smiling up at him, his eyes shining, radiating how much he loved David. The fire inside him still took his breath away, even if he’d felt it almost constantly for the last year and a half.

That was the man he was going to marry. That was his soulmate.

And so David began.

“A year and a half ago, I came back to this town feeling lost and confused. I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing or where I was supposed to be. But then a guy walked into the Café and teased me before we’d even had a real conversation. I didn’t know it then, but I’d finally found my purpose, the answer to the question of where I was supposed to be. I found my soulmate. The love of my life…”

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out with me on tumblr (and cry about last episode): @parksanddownton603


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